A cooking appliance is to prepare food by heating an object to be cooked. A microwave oven will be described herein by way of example of a cooking appliance. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional microwave oven. Referring to the figure, a cavity assembly 1 forms a frame of a microwave oven. A cooking chamber 3 is defined in the cavity assembly 1. The cooking chamber 3 is a space in which an object to be cooked is accommodated and cooked. An electric equipment installation chamber 5 is defined in an outside of the cavity assembly 1. The electric equipment installation chamber 5 is a space in which parts for heating an object to be cooked in the cooking chamber 3 are installed.
The electric equipment installation chamber 5 is provided over an upper surface of the cavity assembly 1 and contains, for example, a magnetron 7, a high voltage transformer 9, and the like. The magnetron 7 generates microwave for heating an object to be cooked, and the high voltage transformer 9 provides high voltage necessary for generating microwave in the magnetron 7.
An outer case 11 is mounted on the cavity assembly 1 to partially define an external appearance of a microwave oven, and serves to cover the cavity assembly 1 and the parts. The outer case 11 comprises an upper plate portion 13 defining an external appearance of an upper surface of the microwave oven, and side plate portions 15 vertically bent from both ends of the upper plate portion 13 and defining an external appearance of side surfaces of the microwave oven.
However, the aforementioned prior art has the following problems.
During use of a microwave oven, there may be cases where a part installed in the electric equipment installation chamber 5 is out of order. In such a case, it is possible to repair or replace the part in the electric equipment installation chamber 5 in a prior art only after the outer case 11 is separated from the cavity assembly 1. However, there is inconvenience in that a large number of screws should be loosened in order to separate the outer case 11.
Particularly, when a microwave oven is large, it is difficult for a worker to handle the microwave oven by oneself. Further, when a microwave oven is installed at a particular location, there is a problem in that it is impossible for a worker to perform maintenance work by oneself since the microwave oven should be separated from the installation location.
In addition, if an outer case is wholly removed and the interior of a microwave oven is exposed when a microwave oven is repaired, a consumer may consider that the microwave oven might be severely out of order. That is, there is a problem in that a consumer may psychologically distrust the quality of a microwave oven.